You'll Find Me In The Shallows
by hope.peace.love
Summary: Klaus and Hayley were forced to make a difficult decision to protect their child after she was nearly killed by the New Orleans Witches. Hayley spirals out of control and Klaus shuts the world out but as they both grieve the loss of their child they find themselves in a familiar place. Only this time the stakes are much higher and the pain runs much deeper. (multi-chapter fic)
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: So this idea came to me after the finale, this picks up a few months after Klaus and Hayley give Hope away to Rebekah to protect her. I should note that in this story the things that have transpired between Hayley and Elijah on the show are canon, but this is most def a Klayley story and there won't be a real triangle between the 'll just have to keep reading to find out more about that :) I'm really inspired to write this and I hope you guys like where I take this,oh and much like my other story, this will have LOTS of angst, sorry I'm just a sucker for those kinda feels haha REVIEW PLEASE!**_

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Klaus wandered around the dark alleys of the quarter alone, trying to block out the images and thoughts that had been tormenting him. It was one of the first times In months he'd actually decided to take his drinking public, choosing instead to use his home as a fortress against the miserable city that had taken everything away from him. The air smelled like her, the cityscape reminded him of her, and the moon made him yearn for her, his daughter, his Hope.

He, along with his brother and Hayley, had stayed isolated for over 5 months after he tearfully gave Hope away to Rebekah. Part of it was for show, to make sure everyone believed that he and Hayley were really grieving parents, but part of it was real, often times too real, because although she wasn't dead they still lost her, she was still gone. That was his reality and there was no escaping it so he let his grief consume him. For months he holed up in his quarters unwilling to hold an entire conversation with neither Hayley nor Elijah. Marcel would visit occasionally to check on him and Hayley but he never stayed long, Klaus would always find some kind of way to get him to leave him alone in his sorrow. Elijah tried to get him to come out of his depression as well but it never worked and he focused most of his attentions on Hayley, who had no desire to be around him anyway.

She was worse off than he was. He knew that if there was anyone in the world who felt this hurt more deeply than he did it was Hayley. She had not only been forced to give her child up but she had died just before her daughter was ripped from her arms and had come back to life as an entirely different species. There were several occasions where he wanted to go to her, to share in their grief, to help her cope with some of the changes and feelings she might be experiencing but he couldn't bring himself to do it because as much as the city reminded him of Hope, there was nothing that reminded him of what he lost more than Hayley. When he saw her face he saw Hope's, her hair, her nose, her cheekbones, her smile. Everything about Hayley reminded him of her so his only escape was to avoid her as much as possible. Besides, Elijah smothered her with affection and kept a watchful eye on her so it wasn't like she really needed him, or so he thought.

She was the reason he had finally decided to leave his fortress; escape would probably be a better word to describe what he was currently doing. She had been spiraling out of control the last few weeks. Her sadness started to manifest itself in fits of rage and several emotional breakdowns. They found out she had gone out and viciously fed on and killed a group of tourists after she found out one of them was a witch. The girl was innocent but Hayley couldn't stop herself. That was only the beginning of her destructive behavior. Her blood thirst threatened to control her and if they didn't stop her she wouldn't be able to live with herself later on and there was nothing Elijah could do about it no matter how hard he tried. When it first started Klaus tried to stay out of it, to let her deal with her grief and her issues on her own like he had done time and time again but the more he saw her loose it the more he knew he couldn't just stand idly by while she deteriorates.

Elijah was there every step of the way of course, trying and failing at tending to her every need. He knew why Elijah couldn't get through to her no matter how hard he pushed; it was the same reason he could never get through to him. He treated her like she was broken and needed to be fixed, not like someone who needed to tackle her demons head on and try to cope with them. Like to solve her problems she just needed to revert back to the old her, not realizing that the old Hayley, much like the old Klaus, was gone and would never return.

Klaus knew that if he let her slip into that deep abyss of darkness she would never return, he would loose the mother of his child and that wasn't a loss he could bear, especially since the only thing keeping him from completely loosing it like her was the hope that they might be able to have the life they thought they would have one day. Sure he and Hayley might not be a couple, she might have feelings for his brother, but she was his family and he cared about her deeply, sometimes more that he even realized or liked to admit. They were supposed to be a family, an untraditional and extremely complicated family, but a family nonetheless, and even if that dream was shattered into 1000 pieces the moment they gave Hope away he still had a slither of hope that those pieces could one day be put back together. That's why he finally decided he needed to help her, he needed to at least try even if helping her brought him even more grief it was still something he needed to do, he could find his way out of his darkness, but she couldn't at least not on her own and he owed it to his daughter to make sure she had at least one parent who wasn't completely consumed by their demons.

He tried a simple approach at first, trying to just talk to her here and there, make her see that she didn't need to go down this path but he wasn't good in situations like that since he had a hard time of even convincing himself to not self destruct so she usually just pushed him away. Tonight he had tried to go to her again to just talk. He went searching for her in her room after hearing her scream loudly and toss something at a wall but he didn't find her there. For a minute he thought that she had gone out and was currently sucking some poor soul dry until he heard her faint whimpers coming from behind the cracked door connected to her room. He couldn't comprehend why she would even want to think about that room let alone go in it; he hadn't been able to bring himself to look at the nursery since that night. He contemplated just going back to his room like he was never there but her cries kept ringing in his ears leaving him unable to turn around to make a quick exit. Instead he slowly walked to the door and pushed it open. The sight he saw when it finally opened made tears immediately come to his eyes and his heart sink to his knees. She was sitting in the rocking chair holding a blanket and rocking as if she was holding their child. Tears streaked down her face and she rocked back and forth and back and forth letting the heartbreak tear her apart inside. Just seeing the room tore him apart but seeing her so broken, so lost, left him speechless and unable to feel anything except deep sorrow.

A tear slipped down his face as he finally found the courage to ask her what she was doing. She didn't respond immediately, only looked up at him and stared. There was emptiness behind her eyes, her humanity had already been slipping away but now it appeared her sanity was as well. Only a person with a lapse in sanity would subject herself to the heartache she was currently subjecting her self to. He couldn't understand it, he asked her why she was doing this, why she was abusing herself with the scent of their daughter and the images of the life they were supposed to have. She didn't respond to that either, she only cried as she buried her face in her lap while clutching the blanket. He thought about reaching out to her but he feared the close proximity would only render him into the same state that she was in. Instead he softly told her she needed to stop this, she needed to stop doing this to herself. His words must have infuriated her and made her snap because the next thing he knew she was speeding towards him and pushing him against a wall in her room and screaming at him. He stood there shocked at first, caught completely off guard by her physical outburst. His reflexes eventually kicked in after the initial shock wore off and he pinned her against the opposite wall, holding her arms down as she fought against his grip so she could hit him. She was screaming and crying and fighting and it was the saddest thing he had ever seen in his life.

He wasn't even angry with her; he only felt sadness, extreme sadness. He tried to quiet her, to tell her to calm down and stop her madness but it all fell on deaf ears and she kept screaming and fighting. He was trying to be gentle with the little wolf but she was uncontrollable. Her new strength and speed caught him off guard and he was forced to use a little more force than he wanted to in order to get stop her attack, though that still didn't get her to calm down. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he realized the only solution to her current bout of madness, he had to compel her. He whispered that he didn't want to do this but she was leaving him no choice just before he looked into her eyes and told her that she would calm down and allow herself to get some rest. He wanted to compel her to forget about her grief all together but he would never forgive himself for robbing her of her own free will to work through her problems no matter how much she needed it. It wasn't much and she would probably be back at it again in a short while but it would have to do for now.

After he compelled her she just stood there calmly in a daze, her breathing was heavy and accelerated and she seemed to barely even know where she was or what she had been doing. He gently picked her up and put her in her bed where she laid down silently staring at the wall. He wanted to stay with her through the night but he could feel his own sanity start to slip and he needed to get away before he spiraled out of control himself, so he bent down and gently brushed her face whispering everything would be okay and left her room. He also left the house seeking refuge in a nearby bar so he could drown out the pain with his favorite companion. He felt completely useless and helpless. He couldn't see his daughter, he couldn't help her mother, and he could barely control his own urges, the only time he's ever felt more powerless was when he was drained of his power by the witches and forced to watch Hayley give birth in agony and be killed.

That's what brought him to where he currently was, stumbling through the streets searching for some semblance of peace he knew he wouldn't find. He was contemplating going home but he feared what he would find when he got there. He didn't think he could handle seeing Hayley a wreck like that again but part of him felt the urge to return to her. As he continued walking he couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to be with her, he needed to talk to her, he need to just be near her. Maybe it was because he could feel himself slowly loosing it and he knew she was already lost so maybe they just needed to be lost together, maybe that's how he could help her, they do say the misery loves company.

No one could understand the feeling he was feeling like she could anyway, they were the only two people in the world who could ever possibly understand and he felt like he needed that comfort right now and that she desperately needed it too. The bottle of scotch he consumed had been his companion for the last three hours but it had done nothing but numb pain, not make him forget it completely and it was just begging to all come bursting out of him at any moment. He knew being around Hayley wouldn't make it go away but maybe it could soothe it and even if it didn't at least neither one of them would have to slip into the abyss alone. After wandering around for a little while longer he had found a helpless stranger and fed on him, releasing some of his pent up anger but still doing nothing to soothe his pain. That's when he finally found the resolve to return to her. He slowly made his way back to the compound, ready to finally face the grief and pain that had been eating away at them both for months.

When he arrived back at the compound it was eerily quiet. If he didn't know any better he would think that no one was home but him. He made his way up the stairs and paused just outside Hayley's door. For a second he thought about turning around and just going to his room but the sound of her tears gave him the extra push he needed to enter. When he walked in he found her sitting in her room in the dark. She was sitting in the middle of her bed holding the same blanket he found her with earlier just staring into nothing, the sight was jarring to say the least. He wasn't quite sure of what to say to her, of what she needed to hear to snap out of her state of depression so he just stood there in silence for a few moments. He slowly walked to her bed and sat down next to her, carefully removing the blanket from her tight grip. She didn't even flinch.

"Hayley..." He was met with silence as he expected. "Why won't you say anything love?" He moved a little closer to her and brushed her hair from her face, finally breaking her from her trance. She still didn't respond though, she only stared at him. He stared into her eyes reading the sorrow behind them. He knew why she couldn't say anything; she didn't really have to give him an answer, it was simple, she missed their daughter.

"You know I miss her too Hayley, I miss her everyday." He whispered, never breaking their eye contact. "Hope was everything to me as well, but we had to do what was best for her, I wish we could see that, then maybe we wouldn't beat ourselves up about it so much. We had no other choice" He said, voice starting to crack as he tried to convince himself of his own words. Silence once again filled the room, the weight of their shared pain was suffocating and it was becoming to be too much for Klaus to handle. He started to get up and leave but the sound of Hayley's voice made him freeze where he sat.

"I don't just miss her...I feel her, I feel her presence everywhere I turn. I can sense her, but I can't see her, or touch her, or smell her. I can't do anything but hold on to the few memories of her that I have, I can't do anything but imagine the time I rocked her in that rocking chair or swaddled her up in this blanket. That's all I have, those brief memories when I was supposed to have more." Tears had started to stream down her face again as she stared back at Klaus. "What am I supposed to do when my daughter is out there and I can't be with her…It wasn't supposed to be like this…"

"I know it wasn't, but it was for the best Hayley."

His words struck a nerve in her, that's all she's heard for months from Elijah, it was for the best; it was the right thing to do. It was true but it was in no way comforting and if anyone would know that it was Klaus.

"No don't tell me it was for the best!" She yelled as she stood up from her seated position on the bed. "You know that doesn't make a difference, knowing it was for the best doesn't make the pain go away, so don't sit here and pretend that's going to make me feel better because it doesn't, you know it doesn't!"

"What else am I supposed to say then Hayley, what do you want me to do, dwelling on it won't bring her back to us."

"You're supposed to not pretend, not act like everything is okay because it was the right thing to do, you're supposed to act like she mattered to you, like you miss her and there is nothing anyone can say or do to make that feeling go away."

"You think I don't miss her as well Hayley? You think I don't think about the how we were supposed to raise her together here, in this home, in this city. Images of her in the nursery that I built flood my thoughts every single day Hayley, some days I can't get it out of my head and it drives me borderline insane."

"Then why are you here? Why are you trying to fix me when you know the reasons behind my madness? Of course I never expected Elijah to understand, I didn't expect anyone to understand, but you…I thought you would get it and leave me alone."

"Oh I understand all too well love and that's exactly why I'm here. If you keep this up Hayley when our daughter returns to us her mother will be a shell of her former self. She will never know you as you were, only as what you have become and trust me that is not a weight you want to have to carry."

Hayley paused to take in his words. He did have a point and she would be a fool to not realize that she was dangerously close to reaching the point of no return but this wasn't something she could control, it wasn't voluntary, none of it was, not her turning, giving up her daughter, or completely loosing it.

"I can't control it Klaus…I…I try, I try to be at peace with it but my heart and my mind won't let me." Her voice was shaking again and nervously crossed her arms across her body. "I died, I died and my daughter was ripped from my arms and she was taken, I thought that was the last time I would ever see her, only it wasn't. I woke up alone in a church craving blood, her blood. How do you just move on from something like that? Am I supposed to just forget? Do you have any idea what that was like?"

"Of course I do! You talk to me as if I know nothing of your pain, as If I know nothing of what you've gone through or how you might feel. I watched you; I saw it all and I was powerless to do anything about it! You think I don't know what it's like to die ad wake up as something completely different? How do you think I felt after I was killed by my own parents and woke up as this, this abomination against nature? I know all too well how enticing this darkness is, I still have to fight it myself."

"Then stop treating me like I'm sick, like I'm broken. I don't need your pity, I don't need your comfort, I don't need any of it!"

"Then tell me Hayley, what is it that you need? It's been almost 6 months. How much longer are we supposed to continue on like this?"

"I NEED HER!" she screamed. No matter how much he wanted to plead with her, no matter what anyone said, there was nothing that could soothe her besides their daughter and he knew it.

"SHE'S GONE HAYLEY!" Klaus yelled as he started to come undone finally. His voice cracked and tears welled up in his eyes as he said it out loud for the first time. "She's gone and we didn't have anytime with her, we barely even got to hold her and I don't know when she's coming back. The vision of our family haunts me day in and day out. It makes me want to go out and destroy this entire city, everyone who has ever wronged you or I. Destroy the people who are the reason that we can't be with her."

Hayley was taken back by his sudden outburst. He had kept his cool the entire time she went on her tirade but now his control was slipping and it only made her want to loose control even more. "That's what I want to do too. I want to make everyone pay, any witch, any vampire, even if I have to take out my own family, I want their blood to fill the streets because they've robbed me of my one chance at happiness, they took her away from me!"

"But don't you see Hayley, you can't do that"

"WHY THE HELL NOT! You can go on rampages for centuries for no reason but I can't be angry that I can't be with my daughter, I can't want to give in to these impulses?"

"BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ONE PERSON TO BLAME HERE…ME!" He yelled as the tears finally started to stream down his cheeks. "I'm the one who robbed you of our child, I'm the reason she will never be able to have a normal life, the reason she most likely never be safe. So if you want to destroy anyone then that person would be me." No matter how many times he wanted to kill any and everyone involved, get rid of every threat immediately, it still wouldn't make the pain of his own culpability in the matter go away. This was all his fault and it ate away at him constantly. Hayley's death, their child's attempted murder, having to give her up, Hayley's brokenness and slip into madness, everything, he was to blame for everything. "This is all my fault, I've made enemies my entire miserable life Hayley, my own mother tried to kill my child simply because I exist. There is no one more to blame here than I."

Hayley gasped as she watched Klaus breakdown in front of her. She had never seen him in such a state. Not even when he was completely powerless did he seem this weak. Hayley fought back her own tears as she walked over to the other side of the bed and moved closer to him. "Klaus…."

"How am I supposed to live with myself knowing that you're like this and I'm the cause of all of it all? I've robbed our daughter of her safety, of her home, I can not also rob her of her mother."

"You think I don't blame myself too? Think maybe if I had made a different decision here or there or not trusted this person or done anything differently I wouldn't have to feel this way. I blame myself for not thinking ahead, for not being smarter. I was so stupid Klaus! I was a naïve thinking I could do whatever I wanted to it wouldn't affect her, thinking I could have my family and my daughter and this perfect life here, thinking I could actually mean something to someone and do something worthwhile. It was never in the cards for people like you and me, we don't get happy 'endings no matter how hard we try and that makes it hurt even more...because she doesn't deserve this. We didn't deserve her in the first place." She sat on the bed and sobbed. Holding her face in her hands. Klaus reached out to her and placed her head on his shoulder. She didn't fight him, she only continued sobbing against his chest as he wrapped one arm around her and used the other to gently stroke her hair.

"I know we didn't deserve her, especially not I. We were both naïve and now look at us, maybe it's best if we let her go, sometimes I think she's better off without me anyway."

"But I can't Klaus….I can't let her go." She whispered in between sobs.

"I know, I can't let her go either." He replied, allowing his tears to fall down and wet her hair.

"So what are we supposed to do?" she asked, finally looking up at him. He whipped her tear-stained cheeks with his hand and let out a deep sigh. "I don't know…maybe we're destined to this life of misery."

Hayley nuzzled her head against Klaus chest and closed her eyes. "Thank you"

"For what? I haven't helped at all, if anything I've made things worse"

"For not having the answers, for not making me feel crazy or broken or alone."

Klaus let out a light chuckle, no one had ever thanked him for being clueless, and in a way he probably should be thanking Hayley since for the first time since they gave Hope away to Rebekah he felt slightly comforted. He didn't thank her though, he only sat in silence and let her continue crying into his chest, she needed to get it all out, they both did. Locking it all up would only cause her to continue to slip into madness.

She stayed that way for hours. There were no words exchanged between them the entire time, only grief. When her tears started to overwhelm him again he didn't run away like he would have before, instead he stayed with her and let it overtake him, he joined her in that low dark place and for the first time ever they mourned the loss of their daughter together.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So just a heads up about this chapter. There isn't really any klayley interactions in this one but I hope you see the reasons behind it and aren't too chapter will feature Elijah heavily throughout it's entirety and much of that will be interacting with Hayley so be warned that this is a heavy Haylijah chapter. Once again I'll repeat that this is a klayley story and there will be no real love triangle between the three of them but elijah and hayley's relationship is a integral part of this story in the beginning, you'll see once you read, and hopefully you like it. Drop me a review if you do and even drop me a review of you don't. Feedback is always a plus for me no matter what the content. Anyways..Enjoy :)**

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Klaus carefully removed Hayley's head from his chest and slipped from underneath her arm, rolling over to the other side of her bed. He moved slowly so as to not wake her up. She was sleeping so peacefully, almost like she was just a normal person who lived a normal life and only had normal problems. She looked almost angelic to him as the rays of the sun framed her face highlighting her stunning features. At that moment a certain guilt hit him. She had cried pretty much the whole night, only stopping when fatigue hit her and she shut her eyes. If only he hadn't seduced the little wolf all those nights ago she wouldn't have had to cry herself to sleep at night. Of course if he was being completely honest though the little wolf seduced him, but still she could have been spared this heartache if it wasn't for that night. The only thing stopping that guilt from eating away at him like the rest of his problems was that without that night he would have never even had Hope, and without Hope neither one of them would have known the joy of making something so good and pure, even if that joy was short lived.

He carefully pulled himself up off the bed and slowly got out, careful not to move to too much and wake her. It was awkward to say the least. He never meant to fall asleep with her and he definitely didn't expect to wake up with her cradled against his chest, her leg draped across his thigh, and her forearm flushed against his face. He hadn't been that close to Hayley since the night they slept together, so leaving her bed felt foreign. Thankfully Hayley wasn't awake to witness his discomfort. As he slowly cracked open her door to leave he turned back around to look at her one more time. He was sure he would see her a complete wreck again later so he wanted to burn one of her few moments of peace into his memory.

He only cracked the door open just enough so he could squeeze out and after his right leg made it through the small opening he thought he was home free, only his older brother was standing in front of him with a furrowed brow and his arms crossed. "Niklaus…"

"Elijah…" Klaus tried to act normal but his eyes gave him away, looking at Elijah's quizzical eyes as if he had just done something he had no business doing. He wasn't sure why he looked guilty nor why he felt guilty, it's not like anything happened between he and Hayley last night and she was the mother of his child so he had just as much of a right to spend time alone with her as Elijah, yet he still felt out of place. Like he was somehow impeding on whatever it was they had going on with each other.

"I'm surprised to find you here brother especially at this hour, is there any particular reason behind your early morning visit?"

Klaus laughed internally. Early morning visit… if that's what he thought this was then that's what he would let him believe, though it partially offended him that the thought of him spending the night with Hayley didn't cross Elijah's mind. "The time I chose to spend with the mother of my child is of none of your business." He replied, his tone was sort of defensive which threw Elijah through a loop and made him wonder even more why he was sneaking out of Hayley's room this early in the morning after basically avoiding her for months. "No need to get defensive brother, I was just curious about what got you to finally decide to no longer be a recluse, I assumed it must have been fairly important if you're visiting the woman you haven't shown an ounce of concern towards for months now." That struck a nerve. Of course Elijah would throw him avoiding Hayley for months in his face as if it wasn't mutual and as if he didn't have his own grief to work through and was unable to be of any help to Hayley in his mental state.

"Don't worry brother I'm sure Hayley's affections are still with you and only you. I assure you it was nothing. I wouldn't dare show her any concern that's what you're here for. I'm only here to cause problems not fix them remember, so go a head I'm sure she's waiting for you" Klaus replied with a sarcastic smile before abruptly leaving the hallway and retreating to his quarters down the hall.

Elijah paused then entered Hayley's room to find her sound asleep confusing him even more about Klaus's sneaky departure from Hayley's room and defensive attitude towards even the simplest question about it. He was about to leave the room, not wanting to wake her up as she slept so peacefully but she began to stir, indicating that she was close to waking up.

"Good morning Hayley"

Hayley blocked the sun from her face and squinted her eyes in discomfort. She did not want to be awake at that moment, If she had it her way she would sleep the whole day since that was probably the most peaceful sleep she's had in months.

"It appears you slept well" Elijah responded to Hayley's silence. Hayley rolled over to her side with her back facing Elijah. It's what she did every time he entered her room early in the morning to check on her. It was her signal that she wanted to be left alone and he usually got the signal but this morning he was more determined to get her to open up to him about how she was feeling. "Hayley don't you think it's almost time for you to stop doing this. I come here often trying to get you to open up to me yet you won't. You're content with staying like this instead of moving on from your grief, you can't do this forever, I won't let you. "

Hayley closed her eyes and took deep breaths trying to control her emotions. She didn't want to blow up on Elijah but she also didn't like that fact that he didn't understand her and didn't seem to want to understand her. All he ever preached about was moving on and not letting the changes affect her this way and his whole he won't let her do this to herself thing infuriated her as well because he had no control over her actions or her emotions, neither did she for that matter. She remained silent once again. It was easier to control saying nothing than it was to control saying the wrong thing.

"Hayley please just say something. I know you talked to Klaus this morning so I'm not particularly buying your silent treatment.

"I didn't talk to Klaus this morning." She said, finally breaking her silence

"Well I thought since I saw him leaving your room this morning you two spoke.."

Hayley popped up from the bed and finally made eye contact with Elijah. "Well you figured wrong, that's one of your problems you're always going on about things you don't know anything about" She said which agitated.

Elijah sat on the bed besides her and reached out for her hand. "Hayley forgive me I'm just trying to help, can't you see that."

She let his hand linger on hers for a second then quickly pulled her hand away. Tears started to well up on her eyes. "I want to be left alone please, I just need time can't you give me that?"

"Hayley it's been over 5 months now, you keep doing this and you'll never move on."

Hayley didn't answer him back this time; she only stared off into the distance avoiding his eyes and his touch. He couldn't understand that maybe she didn't move on because she didn't want to, that it was practically impossible for her to do so given how connected to her child she is and how much she loved her.

"It's all going to be okay Hayley, you just have to believe it." He pleaded with her, he reached out to stroke her cheek and though she didn't return his affection he was relieved when she didn't flinch away from. "How about a change of scenery? What if we left this house finally, it has to be suffocating to stay here everyday, we could go out and just…"

"No" she blurted out cutting him off. "I don't want to go anywhere, If I go out I'm not sure I can control….just no, I prefer to stay here,"

"Control what? Hayley you don't have to give into those urges, I can help you with it, that doesn't have to be you" If only he knew that it was indeed her she thought to herself. That many of the urges she felt she knew she would feel even if she wasn't a hybrid

"Nothing, I just want to stay here, I feel closest to her here, I need to feel closer to her right now."

"Well at least let me have a real meal prepared for you tonight, you haven't had one in weeks. It might do you well."

Hayley turned and looked at Elijah's pleading eyes. He really had been trying everything to help her. Unfortunately for him he just didn't know how. Still that didn't keep her from appreciating his efforts at times and even feeling a little guilty that she spent most of her time around him being cold or silent or rebuffing his affections and his help. She hadn't forgotten how she felt about Elijah before everything happened but sometimes it felt like a distant memory and other times those feelings felt almost non-existent. Still she felt like she owed him something, something for basically taking over his life. She was feeling a little better than usual after her night with Klaus so she figured if there was anytime to try to be normal it was now. "Fine" she replied. "I'll come down for dinner tonight."

Elijah was shocked but relieved that Hayley finally took a step to do something besides sit and wallow in her room. "Good, maybe I'll even ask Klaus to join us, we just might get back to normal around here." He stood up and gently kissed Hayley on her cheek. "See you tonight." He said before kissing her on her forehead and leaving the room. Hayley finally let the tear she had been holding in for the last few minutes escape her eyes and fall down her cheek. She curled back up in bed and tried to return to the peaceful sleep she had enjoyed earlier. She tossed and turned trying to get back to that place but she was unsuccessful since something was missing, something she had no desire to admit or go searching for.

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Elijah knocked on Klaus's door and walked in knowing his brother wouldn't actually invite him in. He found him opposite his bed with a paintbrush in his hand working on a surprisingly colorful piece of artwork. "What do you want" Klaus asked coldly without even turning around to face him.

"I've finally convinced Hayley to stop holding herself up in her room for a night, she's agreed to dinner, I thought you might like to join us. This could be our first step towards finding some sense of normalcy around this place again."

"I'll pass on that offer, wouldn't want my presence to impede upon your little dinner date." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice that he unsuccessfully tried to hide. He had absolutely no desire to sit at a table and watch Elijah cater to Hayley non-stop.

"This is the first time in weeks I've been able to convince her to do something other than wallow in misery for a few hours and you can't even be bothered to get over yourself for a short time to be there for her. Does her sanity mean nothing to you Niklaus? You seem perfectly content with letting her stay the way she is."

Klaus could feel anger building up as Elijah's words cut into him. Of course he was accusing him of not caring about Hayley's well being without even considering he was in no mental position to be of help to her. If last night taught him anything it was that he and Hayley were one in the same, neither one was any step closer to moving past their grief so as much as he wanted to pull Hayley out of hers he couldn't because he was still very much consumed by his own. He finally turned to face Elijah and stared at him angrily. He motioned his arms as he began to talk, flinging paint on the carpet below him.

"Perhaps Hayley doesn't want to be rescued from her darkness brother and perhaps I'm in no position to do so even if she did. Besides that's what you're there for isn't it? Ever since you met her you've jumped at the chance to cater to her, to shower her with affection, to fix her. I don't see how I'm needed." He said as he walked closer to Elijah and slowly invaded his personal space

"I have tried tirelessly to be here for both of you and all you do is meet me with your petulant attitude. You sit here in this" Motioning out to the stuffy room that Klaus called his bedroom. "This cocoon, this space of solitude without even so much as a small desire to come out of it." Elijah was not angry and he moved closer to Klaus, he was in his face and he could feel his annoyance increase. This conversation was escalating to a place that neither one of them expected it to get to as the tension in the room cloaked them. " I am done trying to convince you otherwise." Elijah shouted. " You can choose to stay here, but I will not let Hayley join you here. She needs this, she needs to know that she can get better, she needs to know that she can be normal again."

Klaus let out a sarcastic chuckle, which caused Elijah to grow even more annoyed with him. He was clearly at his wits end with Klaus and probably with Hayley too and he didn't have much more patience for Klaus's continued indifference towards Hayley's condition. To Klaus it was all amusing since Hayley had already joined him in this dark place of pure solitude. It was already too late for what Elijah wanted and he didn't even realize it. Elijah thinks he's content with dragging Hayley down with him but truth be told, neither one really wants to be where they are, they just can't help themselves and neither dragged the other there with them. For the most part their slips into the abyss had been entirely separate but parallel. They were both on a downward trajectory moving with the same velocity so when they did finally come together they just continued on that path, willingly and as one. That's not something Elijah could really understand though which is why Klaus only smirked and took a step back from Elijah instead of acting out towards him in anger. Elijah just really had no Idea and he probably never would.

"Good luck with your little dinner tonight brother. I'm sure you and Hayley will have a pleasant time, grieving mothers need a good meal to pull themselves together" Klaus said sarcastically. "I'm sure after tonight Hayley will be as good as new."

"Oh don't try to placate me with your sarcasm Niklaus I know- "

"No really, I hope this is just what Hayley needs. After all our daughter will need one functional parent once she returns and since I'm a lost cause as you so pleasantly put it I guess that burden falls squarely on the little wolf's shoulders. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to be left alone in this little dark cocoon I've carefully crafted for myself." He turned back around and continued to work on his painting, ignoring Elijah who was still standing behind him observing him. After a few moments Elijah sighed and left the room, disappointed that once again he couldn't get through to his younger brother.

* * *

An awkward silence filled the room as Hayley and Elijah sat at the dinner table together. Elijah had prepared a seat for her directly besides him, feeling like the opposite side the table was a little to far for an intimate dinner. Hayley obliged although she really didn't want to sit that close for some reason. Something about it made her uneasy which even surprised her considering all she used to want was to be closer to him and have moments like this together. Their first course had been served by the time Elijah managed to break the silence that filled the room.

"You know Hayley I'm pleased that you decided to join me tonight."

Hayley kept her attention on the salad that was in front of her, picking at the leaves of lettuce with her fork nervously. She never even lifted her head to make eye contact with him nor did she respond. Elijah decided to continue his attempt to make conversation despite her silence.

"How are you feeling this evening? You look beautiful by the way"

Hayley finally decided to break her silence, concluding that Elijah wouldn't stop his questions until she said something, anything. "I feel fine" she said expressionless. She merely stared into space when she spoke and didn't even attempt to engage him.

"Are you sure? You don't seem fine"

Those words made something snap inside of her. She had told herself prior to coming downstairs that she would try to be pleasant and would refrain from her usual attitude but It was practically impossible as she sat at the table opposite of Elijah. She was trying and failing to enjoy her dinner while thinking about whether or not her daughter was hungry for a bottle at this very moment, or if she ate already and Rebekah was currently putting her down for the night. She could feel something in her yearning for food but it wasn't her body that craved it, it was Hope's and that feeling made her mind race and her heartbreak because if her daughter was indeed hungry she herself couldn't make that hunger go away. Elijah wanted to make small talk and pretend like they were just two normal people having a normal dinner but they weren't and the longer she sat there the angrier she got a him even though he was doing nothing wrong. "How do you think I feel Elijah" she said forcefully tossing her fork onto her plate.

"I don't know Hayley since you refuse to even talk to me about anything. Not about being a Hybrid not about Ho-"

"Don't say her name!" She yelled as she propped her elbows up on the table and buried her face into her hands. She anxiously rubbed her forehead and ran her hands through her hair trying to pull herself together.

"Hayley I'm sorry, it is not my intention to upset you further."

"I just don't want to hear her name right now. I don't want to hear anything about her, I can't listen to anything about her."

Elijah could see tears welling up in Hayley's eyes and he reached out to her. Scooting his chair closer to hers and pulling her arms to him.

"Hayley listen to me, I'm just trying to help. If you would just let me in, let me help you, you would see that everything is going to be okay. I promised I would get you through this and I never break a promise." He brushed her face and his eyes practically begged her to look into his but she wouldn't budge, she refused to look him in the eyes choosing instead to shy away from him as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Hayley" He whispered one last time to her. She had finally had enough of pretending to be composed in front of him and she collapsed into his chest crying. He held her close whispering words of comfort to her. "It's okay Hayley, everything is going to be okay." Hayley knew it wouldn't be but she didn't have the nerve or the strength to fight him at that moment. That sense of yearning she felt was overwhelming every one of her senses and it was beginning to drive her almost insane. "You can make it through this Hayley, I know it's hard for you and for Klaus, but especially for you. You're her mother and you want more than anything to be with her but you don't have to let that pain consume you."

"But I want it to" she whispered softly. If he didn't have enhanced hearing he almost wouldn't have even heard her.

"No" He replied softly. " You can't do that. You can't give up on yourself and your future there's still" He suddenly paused knowing that what he was about to say was more likely to trigger her than to comfort her. It was too late however as Hayley already knew what he was alluding to. She yanked her head up from his chest and finally looked him in the eyes.

"There's still what Elijah, huh? What were you going to say Hope?" there was agitation behind her voice as she pushed herself off of him. He tried to pull her back to him but she only fought against it. "That is what I was about to say but I didn't mean to upset you. "

"YOU NEVER MEAN TO UPSET ME BUT YOU DO!" she shouted as she stood up from the table. She threw her plate across the room, causing it to shatter as it hit a wall. Elijah was taken back by her sudden outburst. "Don't you understand? THERE IS NO HOPE! Hope is gone. Hope is a fantasy, it's not real, it doesn't exist for people like me its all a delusion. I can't touch it, I can't hold on to it, I can't experience because it's mythical, just like I can't touch nor hold nor see my Hope. They're both gone. She was the only Hope I had and she took it with her when I had to give her up." She was now crying and Elijah was now standing up as well.

"That's not true Hayley, there is still Hope. You are alive, she's alive. You also have me and what we could build together. All is not lost for you, for any of us. We can still have what we've all always wanted one day."

"No we can't! Everything I thought I knew, everything I wanted has been shattered and it's left me in a million different pieces. I can't be put back together Elijah, I can't be fixed with a little bit of glue like I'm some stature that was once beautiful but was knocked over and needs to be restored."

"I know that Hayley but this, this person I see in front of me, who isolates herself and acts out viciously and hurts the people around her, that isn't very becoming of you. That isn't who you have to be. It's okay to grieve your daughter Hayley, grief is a very human emotion, but you don't have to let that grief consume you and change you, you don't have to let being a hybrid change who you are and that's what's happening to you. I can't bear to see you unraveling like this much longer."

"You don't even know who I am Elijah. I just might be unraveling but I'm not changing you just can't bear to see me as I am. THIS IS ME!" she yelled. "I'm not okay, I've never been okay and I don't know if I'll ever be okay."

"Hayley that's not true-"

"No!" she screamed as she brushed him off of her. " I can't listen to this anymore. I just want to be alone, just stop trying to help me I can't take it anymore. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed before storming off to her room.

Elijah stood in shock. He didn't expect the dinner to take this turn. He may have underestimated just how unraveled Hayley had become and he was starting to question if he was really capable of helping her. Hayley was drifting father and father into a place he couldn't possibly begin to understand and the deeper she got the farther away from him she slipped. It frightened him because he was loosing her and it seemed like there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Hayley finally reached her room and paced back and forth in her bedroom. The door to the nursery was opened and she could see all it's details, which drove more insane than she already was. She began to hyperventilate as pain built up in her chest, the memories and fantasies overwhelmed her mind, and the anger exploded within her. She ran her hand over her face and through her hair trying to stop herself from snapping but it wasn't working. She needed a release or she was going to completely loose it. She needed to let it all out or it would devour her. The sounds of her sobs began to fill the room. The room was suddenly closing in on her and she felt backed into a corner that she didn't have the strength to fight her way out of.

That's when she thought of him. His words replayed in her mind. _"I'm beginning to think we're a lot a like you and I, we're both castoffs who've learned to fight when we've been backed into a corner."_ If there was anyone who knew how to fight their way out better than her it was him. Her mind jumped to how he comforted her the night before and how when she was around him she actually felt sane and how he confessed to having the same urges as her. It was then that it dawned on her that she didn't need to be left alone and she didn't actually want to be alone. In a way she knew she would need him again earlier when she couldn't return to her sleep without him but she didn't want to admit it then. But now, now she knew she needed someone, someone who could stand in this corner and fight for her because she couldn't fight for herself, and that someone was him. That realization by itself brought her some comfort because immediately after she realized it she felt her breathing steady and her sanity begin to return. She didn't bother wiping away her tears or fixing her disheveled appearance but she as able to mentally compose herself just enough to make her way down the long hallway that lead to his quarters. She found herself in front his door in a flash, ready to finally seek him out. It's then that she realizes that once she goes in things were going to change, for her, for him, for both of them but maybe it was the change that see really needed.

* * *

**AN: okay so I hope you liked the chapter. Like I said before there really was no klayley in this one but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway. If it makes any of you feel better yes Hayley is at Klaus's door at the end, I'm sure I made that obvious but just wanted to outright say it lol I won't spoil it for you but I think it's safe to assume that things are going to get really interesting for klaus and hayley next chapter...you'll just have to wait to see how *evil laugh* REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

She didn't bother questioning if he was awake, she already knew he would be so she hesitantly crept towards the door and lifted her hand to knock but just before she did she paused. Instead she used her enhanced speed to quickly enter his room without knocking. Before Klaus could even form words she was in front of his bed staring blankly at the wall silently.

"Hayley what are you doing here" Klaus questioned as he jumped up from his bed. He was quickly in front of her eyeing her curiously. She didn't respond, it almost looked like she was in a daze again like she was the night before after he compelled her. "Hayley answer me." She still didn't' utter a word, she only stared and played with the ends of her hair. She was starting to concern him again so he needed to do something to snap her back to reality. With his voice slightly raised her grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her. "Hayley! Hayley what is that you are doing her?" It was enough to pull her back and she finally spoke up, at first whispering incoherent lines about dinner and crying and Hope being hungry. As he listened to her and watched her he softened, realizing that she had to be in need of something if she sought him out while in this state. Hayley was a complete mess and if he didn't know any better he would say she was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. He sighed as he felt his eyes burn from the tears welling up. "Hayley" he said softly which caused her to stop her rambling and look up at him. He rubbed her shoulders to relax her and looked her deep in the eyes. "Please love you are frightening me. I need you to pull yourself together and tell me what it is that you need from me, just tell me it doesn't matter what it is. I just need you to communicate that to me. Can you do that?" It was almost like talking to a child and that unnerved him because Hayley is usually so strong, even when she's weak she's strong.

Hayley stared back at him and slowly nodded her head yes. She took a few deep breaths and was finally able to compose coherent sentences. "I…I…I'm going crazy Klaus…"

"No you aren't sweetheart, you're not going crazy."

"No I am" she said meekly. "I was sitting at the table with Elijah trying to pretend to be okay when I…I'm not, I want to feed Hope I think she's hungry, my baby…she…she needs me." Hayley buried her hands in her face and started to sob. "She needs me and I need to get to her but I can't get to her, I have no idea where she is and I can't take this anymore, Klaus I…I think it's making me go crazy. I don't even remember how I got here, It's all so foggy and dark and I…I can feel myself loosing it."

"I happen to believe that everyone's felt just a little bit crazy at some point in their lifetime, that doesn't mean you're going crazy love just-"

"NO! YOU'RE NOT LISTENTING TO ME! " She screamed.

"Hayley calm down, please"

She pulled her rage in and tossed her hand up in the air as she walked a way from Klaus. She paced back and forth in his room, once again reaching that place she was in previously while in her room. "Don't you see, this is what I'm talking about…why did I get so angry at you? Why am I so angry right now? One minute I think I feel fine, the next all I want to do is cry because I swear that I can physically feel our daughter, then the next minute I find my self just filled with this rage, with this anger that I can't control. I'm loosing control." She anxiously continued pacing and ranting, pausing only to periodically steady her breathing.

Klaus just stood silently and watched her carefully. He was unsure about how to exactly handle Hayley. On one hand he wanted to offer her words of comfort, to try to get through to her and stop her madness but on the other he thought that maybe she needed to work through it instead of just soothing it. He thought about all the times he wished he had someone, anyone, who may have understood him even slightly that he could vent to, that he could be completely unhinged in front of. Unfortunately for him he never did, which meant most of his madness was relegated to his mind, gradually stifling him and time went on. Hayley didn't have to suffer that same fate though; he could be that person for Hayley, which is why he simply waited, no matter how unsettling it was. He waited for whatever it was she revealed to him no matter how bad or heartbreaking it might be. He was starting to feel like sometimes he overestimated the little wolf's strength. She was indeed a strong woman, but even the strongest creatures become weak under the right amount of pressure and that's what was happening to Hayley before his very eyes, which only strengthened his resolve to actually be there for her.

"I'm being tormented and I want it to stop but I…I hate what I always feel like I have to do to make it go away…at dinner with Elijah, we argued and the whole time I just had this urge to just...I just needed to get away, I need to get away, I have to…I have to, no I want to…" She stopped pacing and curled up into herself, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. "I can taste the sweetness of if in my mouth right now, I crave it and…and…"

She was starting to drift off again so Klaus finally decided to approach in hope that he could get her to focus again to finish telling him what she needed. He slowly inched closer to where she was standing and firmly placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hayley look at me"

Her eyes darted up and met his. She stood there and gazed at his ocean like eyes. They were hypnotizing and the longer she got lost in them the more she sensed her thoughts gathering. Finally after a few seconds she began talking again.

"And…if I don't do something right now then I'm really going to go Insane. I can't control it, it's drowning me and I need an escape, that's why I came here…"

"What kind of escape love? What are you talking about?"

"You said you felt the same urges I felt remember, like you needed to kill someone, like you wanted to drain someone of every ounce of life they hold. I know you've done it before. I've done it before…but then it was blind rage and hunger that made me do it, now it's…I'm not hungry or angry, I just, I feel lost and like the only way I can find who I am is to be who I've been made to be. I need to just surrender to it. It's what I need to do…I have to do it or else…Klaus I'm going to loose my mind…you have to help me"

Klaus was at a lost for words momentarily. He was unsure of what she was asking him to do. Did she want someone to go on a killing spree with her? Did she want him to stop her? Did she want him to tell her to embrace her vampirism? Or maybe she wanted him to share in this with her so that she didn't feel like the only monster living in this house afterwards. Most of his reasons lead back to her thinking that he was some monster who would enable her behavior, which offended him but he didn't tell her that. "So that's what you need me for? To go out and kill? Is that what you want from me?"

Hayley put her head down almost as if she was ashamed to admit it and shook her head yes. Her response however agitated Klaus. He tensed up and quickly removed his hand from her shoulder and put more space between them.

"So this is why you've come here instead of seeking out my noble brother like you would have before. He wouldn't possibly agree to such a thing but I, the notorious monster would of course. I admit that I have expertise in that sort of thing, I guess it would make sense that you would defer to me when you want to give into your more darker desires."

His voice was flat and emotionless and he refused to make eye contact with her, which told Hayley that he was not pleased by her request. She didn't feel guilty but she didn't mean to wound him in that manner. "No Klaus that's not it at all, that's not why I sought you out…"

Klaus rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Then why are you here Hayley? Why are you in my quarters and not someone else's or your own?"

"I…I'm here because you're the only one who can help me fight these demons that are trying to control me."

"I think you put a little too much faith in me love, I can barely even fight my own if you haven't noticed."

"That's exactly why I know it's you, that you're the only one because here you are…you're still standing here and you might not have it all together but you haven't lost it after all these years. You should be certifiably insane by now but you aren't. No one can understand what it's like to fight this fight but you, not Elijah, not anyone. You can pull me back when I go to far, you can let me fall without rescuing me before I've fallen just far enough, you can stand in the corner with me and get us both out before we're trapped…" She started to cry again. "I already feel trapped and I don't think I can find my way out before I loose it but you can, you've done it before because you're here."

He felt guilty for getting upset with her while she was this broken. He didn't want to react that way but he couldn't help the sting he felt in his heart when he thought she thought the worse of him. Still hearing her reasoning made him sad but it also sent a surge of confidence to his fragile psyche. He felt sad because Hayley must be really low to think him strong enough to fight period, let alone for both of them, but he got a surge of confidence because he was who she really wanted to lean on and trust during her most fragile time and she had absolute faith in his ability to survive even the bleakest of circumstances and that wasn't something he was used to getting from someone. He slowly walked closer to her and grabbed her by the hand. She was trembling and staring at him almost as if she was afraid of his touch and his closeness. He didn't let that deter him however as he closed the distance between then even more and placed his palm on top of her hand. "Are you sure this is what you want? Once you truly embrace this there's no turning back. It will not be easy and you will do things that most will find reprehensible, at least until you learn how to truly control it. If the answer is yes then I will do as you have asked, if the answer is no I will pretend this never happened. So what's it gonna be Hayley?"

Hayley looked down at her hand tucked between Klaus's two hands. His touch had made her stop trembling and his voice assured her that this was truly what she needed to do to save herself. She finally looked up at him and with a single tear falling down her cheek she whispered yes.

* * *

They spotted a girl walking along the backs of the Mississippi. She was alone and seemingly enjoying her late night stroll. Klaus had decided it was best if they left the city, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to themselves, so instead he took Hayley to a city about and hour west of New Orleans called Baton Rouge. The bank of the river that ran near downtown Baton Rouge used to be one of his favorite places to escape to when the city got to over bearing for him. It was relaxed and not too busy, especially not at this time of night. It was also pretty convenient for him since whenever he impulsively fed on someone the river was at his disposal to use for cleaning up his mess. This place was perfect for what they were up to.

Hayley had been pretty mute the entire drive there, choosing to only stare out of the window at the lights of the passing cars. It was for the best since he wasn't much for words anyway and sometimes the thought of engaging in certain types of conversations with Hayley scared the hell out of him. She silently followed his every command as he lead her through the city to their current location. Hayley eyed the girl carefully, watching her every movement. She was envious of the girl and her carefree nature. She didn't seem to have a care in the world. There was nothing weighing her down threatening to crush her. She breathed in the night air as if she and this world were mutual friends. If only she could be fortunate enough to be that free, that loved by her surroundings. The sound of Klaus's accent interrupted her moment of envy. "Well what are you waiting for love, I can tell you want to, have at it that's why we are here."

She turned to look at him and for a moment he thought he saw some hesitation in her eyes. "Do you think I'm a monster Hayley?"

The reasoning behind his question was lost on her but she answered despite her confusion. "No, I've never thought you were a monster. A dick? Sure. Slightly psychotic? Definitely. A monster? No."

"Only slightly psychotic? That might be the best compliment anyone has ever paid me." He let out a light laugh, which actually brought a small smile to Hayley's face. That might have been the first smile she'd cracked in months. Leave it to Klaus to be humorous even when she's coming undone.

"Well I'm glad to hear that, since you aren't a monster either, so go." He said, motioning towards the unsuspecting girl still strolling along the river bank. "Savor the sweetness and warmth of her blood on your lips. Enjoy the feeling of knowing that as you drink life leaves their body never to return again. It's part of who you are now." Hayley take a step to go but before she could move Klaus grabbed her arm. "But remember…it's only a part, this isn't all you are." With that he let her go and Hayley sped off. She approached the girl from behind, pulling her by her hair and quickly sinking her fangs into her carotid artery. She made quick work of the girl, not wasting anytime and before she knew it the girl's limp body was slipping from her grip and falling to the ground lifeless. Klaus sped over once he saw Hayley was done. When he finally reaches her side he finds her with glowing eyes and blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"Are you okay love?"

"Yeah" Hayley said smiling. "I feel…it's like a high. I felt such a rush just now, especially when I watched her fall to the ground."

"I always fancied the approach as the best part. There's something almost euphoric about holding that power over an unsuspecting person. It makes you feel like a God amongst men."

Klaus's little revelation about feeling like a God when he fed didn't surprise Hayley in the least. For someone like Klaus that kind of control is like a drug used to numb the feeling of not having real control over the things surrounding them. Surprisingly it made her want him to indulge in his high as she did. "How about we do the next one together?"

Klaus lifted his eyebrows in surprise at her suggestion. Most women he encountered would have found his little revelation disgusting but not Hayley. Still he wasn't sure if that was the best idea, after all this night was about her, not him. "I don't know love, I'm more of a solo act."

"Come on Klaus. I know you want a taste as well. It would be a shame if you only got to watch someone else experience this high while denying yourself your own. I know you want to I can see it in your eyes."

"You make a good argument and I'm almost tempted—"

"I still thought about her you know. Hope. I thought I wouldn't think about her as I did it, like it would make the pain go away but it didn't…. but strangely I'm not upset about it. I still thought about her, that pain…It's still there but I don't feel like It's on the verge of consuming me right now…I need to keep that feeling Klaus and whether you want to admit it or not I think you need that feeling right now too."

She always did know how to read him like a book. Even when he was completely composed and she completely undone she could still sense even the smallest crack in his armor and it frustrated him yet relieved him all at the same time. "Fine but just this once and after this I'm done, don't ask me again."

"Do I pick or do you want to?" She asked.

"I'll do the picking. Since it's the two of us we'll need someone substantially larger in size than your last victim."

He scanned the bank of the river and spotted what appeared to be a couple enjoying a date. Klaus imagined him to be a businessman and he imagined the lady to be his wife who worked as an interior decorator part time. Fantasizing about his kill before hand isn't something he usually did but tonight some twisted part of him needed them to be the perfect couple worthy of his envy, so that killing them would be more satisfying. "I've found the perfect match for us, however this one might require a little acting."

"Acting?"

Klaus saw the couple getting closer so they had to turn on the act quickly. "Just follow my lead." He grabbed Hayley by her hand and gently kissed the back of it. He let her hand linger on his lips for a few moments before lowering it and interlocking her fingers with his. Hayley didn't question it. He smiled at her and told her to walk. Once they reached the couple Klaus did all the talking. He let them pass them up first before finally getting their attention.

"Excuse me Miss!"

The couple stopped walking and turned around. "Yes, how can we help you?" They replied.

"Forgive me for interrupting your evening but my girlfriend here fancies your necklace. Do you mind if I ask where you got it from?"

The couple eyed Klaus and Hayley suspiciously. Hayley noticed and decided to kick up the act just a little bit. "We're terribly sorry to intrude," she said as she interlocked one arm with Klaus's and dragged her hand up the same arm. "It's just such a beautiful Necklace."

"You know how ladies can be lad, they see something they like and they just have to have it, I don't know how we put up with them." That elicited a chuckle from the man. "You make a good point. It was an anniversary gift, bought it at the Saks on Canal Street in New Orleans."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to visit there next time I'm in the French Quarter."

Klaus reached out and gave the man a firm handshake while wishing him a nice evening. He then turned his attentions to the lady. "Have a nice evening ma'am" He said as he reached out to shake the lady's hand. Once he had it in his palm he placed his hand on top of hers and looked into her eyes. "Go sit down over there and wait, don't scream, don't move, just sit." He compelled her to the shock of her husband. The guy started to protest once he saw his wife absentmindedly walk away from him but before he could even get a word out both Klaus and Hayley had latched onto both sides of his neck. He fell to his knees as both their weights bore down on him. They looked at each other as they went down to the ground along with the man. The experience was thrilling as they started into each other's glowing eyes while drinking the warm blood. Klaus was the first to break the eye contact as he removed his fangs from the man's neck and bite into his wrist while Hayley chose to continue her assault on his neck. After a few minutes the man was completely drained. They both stood up panting for air as they let the high sink in. It was unlike anything Klaus had ever experienced before. He had fed on the same person before several times with Rebekah but there was something different about what he had done with Hayley. There was something so satisfying about sharing that with someone you were so in sync with.

They both turned their attention to the woman sitting a few feet away then looked at each other. As if reading each other's mind they both sped to her choosing again to both sink their fangs into her neck until blood no longer coursed through her veins. They both plopped down on the ground next to the woman's body and just stared out at the river completely satisfied.

"I thought you said only once." She teased.

"Well I have been known to change my mind on a whim" he quipped. Hayley smirked hearing those familiar words again.

"You were right you know, about it not making the pain go away…" He said. "It never does actually, at least not for good. Even when you feel like it's gone for a second it just comes roaring back like it was never gone in the first place."

"So I'll never not feel these things when I do this?" She questioned.

"On the contrary love, sometimes this is when you will feel the most." There was a brief moment of silence as Hayley took in Klaus's words. She brought her knees close to her chest and rested her chin on her knees as she breathed in the night air. In a way she was relieved since she didn't actually think that she wanted to ever live a life where she couldn't feel, not even temporarily, even if feeling things threatened to drive her insane.

"You we're right about the other part to…I thought about her as well, I'm thinking about her now actually, but I don't feel like it's going to consume me right now either, I don't think I could say something like that a few hours ago."

Hayley slowly stood up as another person caught her eye. "I need more…"

"Go right ahead love, do whatever you feel you need to do to regain your sanity. Regardless of how long it takes, I'll be right here waiting"

Hayley glanced at Klaus over her shoulder then looked up at the moon peaking out from behind the clouds. "I know you will," she said, right before she sped off to let her madness claim more victims.

* * *

_**AN: I promised an entirely klayley centric chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun writing them engaging in some bad behavior together I hope we get to see that on the show *fingers crossed*. Just a little hint...this is only the beginning of their "bad" behavior so I hope you guys enjoy the ride, drop me a review letting me know how you feel about their shenanigans. In case some of you don't already know I have another multi-chapter fic in progress called Letting Go. If you haven't read it yet you should check it out. If you have I will be updating that one VERY soon I promise. Expect to get chapter 4 of this fic later in the week then hopefully I can have the next chapter of Letting Go done by the middle of next week. I apologize for going so long between updates. I'll probably alternate updating both stories every week after I get these next two updates out the way. In case I haven't said it before, thanks for reading my stories :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks had passed since Klaus and Hayley first started their late night hunts.

Hayley fed on random humans for another 3 hours after she and Klaus finished off that couple on the riverbanks. Klaus waited the entire time. For a minute he got concerned that she had went off the deep end and decided to take off, but then he saw her deep brown waves coming towards him and that concern disappeared, of course she wouldn't take off, she needed him and he needed her. After that night Hayley came to him again, and again, and again, and before they knew it they were out almost every night blowing off steam and feasting on warm blood.

Hayley's emotional state appeared to get better as the days went by. Klaus managed to squeeze in lessons on how to control her emotions every time they went out which helped Hayley immensely. She noticed a change after the first week had passed. She no longer felt like she was going to loose it every hour and she found that gradually she cried less and less. By the time the middle of the second week rolled around she wasn't even crying herself to sleep anymore. Klaus knew she was getting better when he went to her room after a rough night for him. Unlike most nights he was the one seeking her out to let out some steam. He expected to see her ducked off in the nursery like he used to find her but instead he found her snuggled up with Hope's blanket watching television peacefully. He hadn't seen her that relaxed since before Hope's birth. That sight alone made him feel better and he completely forgot about how he was feeling at that moment.

Even Elijah noticed a change in Hayley's behavior. He commented that Hayley appeared to be in better spirits more than once to Klaus. Klaus usually kept the exchanges brief. He didn't want to talk about Hayley that much with his brother, especially not now. Despite not objecting to their romance or whatever it was they had it still made him uncomfortable, especially since he and Hayley had been getting a lot closer these last few weeks. They did more than just kill when they snuck off at night. They actually talked to each other candidly. They talked about Hope, the city, their likes and dislikes, and even their pasts a little. They didn't have long heart to hearts with tears included but they actually listened to each other and talked without apprehension or filter. It was refreshing for both of them and some nights they would get so caught up in conversation they would forget what they had snuck out the house to do in the first place. Their time spent together did a lot for Klaus's fragile psyche and he felt an intense urge to protect that at all costs. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, it felt sacred to him and he couldn't handle having it tarnished by Elijah. That meant he needed to avoid thinking about her and Elijah at all costs. Which meant conversations with Elijah about Hayley were off limits for him.

Elijah noticed Klaus's reluctance to talk about Hayley even briefly; his abrasiveness when it came to her took him off guard considering Klaus showed no objection to him catering to Hayley since Hope's departure.

Hayley also avoided Elijah most of the time. He didn't know about her late night sneak outs with Klaus and she wanted to keep it that way. She was afraid that being around him too much would cause her to get angry like she usually did around him and if she got angry there was no telling what would slip out of her mouth. She felt so distant from Elijah and the more time she spent with Klaus the more she felt the fragile grip Elijah had on her heart loosen. Of course she didn't want him to know because she knew he wouldn't approve so that was also another reason she avoided him. She wasn't completely oblivious to the dynamics of her relationships and how complicated they were. She was involved romantically with the father of her child's brother. It was already messy and adding the intense and strong bond she felt to Klaus right now just made things even messier.

It was easier to avoid Elijah that it was to string him along and fake the connection to him that she once felt. If she was being completely honest with herself she didn't feel the same thing for Elijah that he felt for her, she never has, but even what she did feel was fading and it was fading fast and every night she spent out with Klaus made that fact more obvious to her. Hayley hoped just like Elijah did that once she got herself under control, once she actually started coping she would find her way back to him and where they were before the tragic events surrounding Hope's birth, but that's not what happened at all. In fact, getting control over her emotions was having the opposite affect on her; it made her feel even farther away from him that she was before.

Even with her complicated feelings for Elijah, Hayley still felt that she was finally starting to get on the right track, like maybe just maybe she was beginning to find the resolve to pull her self out of the gutter long enough to start the fight to get her daughter back. That is until this morning when she once again woke up with the incredible urge to go to Hope that she couldn't control. She hadn't felt this way since the first night she went to Klaus and it's return sent her into e frenzy.

She started to feel the urge a little last night, the dull ache in her heart for her daughter, the desire to leave new Orleans to go to her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she felt Hope needed her. She tried to ignore it but she couldn't so she sought out the only person who knew how to make her feel better. They went out last night and fed for almost 5 hours straight. It worked since Hayley wore herself out and fell asleep in the car on the way home. Klaus had carried her back to her room and watched her sleep peacefully for another 2 hours before retreating. He figured that she was fine, and so did Hayley until she woke at 6am screaming at the top of her lungs for Hope.

Klaus was down in his art studio painting when he heard her wails pierce his ears. As soon as he heard her he raced to her room, only to find Elijah had gotten there first.

"Hayley calm down please, I beg you." Elijah pleaded.

"NO!" She screamed at him. "SHE NEEDS ME, SOMETHING IS WRONG!"

Klaus stood in the doorframe stunned by her outburst. He thought for sure she was getting better, but clearly she wasn't which made him feel completely useless again.

"Hayley I'm sure nothing is wrong with Hope, everything is fine Rebekah is taking care of her, she would let us know if something is wrong." Elijah tried to reason with her.

"SHE'S NOT HER MOTHER I AM! SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING! SHE'S MY BABY I KNOW!" Hayley frantically grabbed her head and began to cry.

Elijah took a few steps closer to Hayley and tried to touch her but she swatted his hand away. "Don't touch me…. just get out of my way so I can find her."

"Hayley, If you try to find her someone might see you, they might find her, is that what you wish to bring upon her? Your enemies finding her and stealing her away from you for good? You have to stop this."

Klaus finally decided to speak up. "Oh big brother, you were always one for words. Do you honestly think that's what she needs to hear right now?"

"Well what do you suggest them Klaus, look at her" her said pointing to Hayley who was now pacing back and forth whispering I'm coming sweetheart over and over.

Klaus wished Elijah wasn't in the room. He'd seen Hayley like this, more than once actually, he knew how to handle her, but something about Elijah's presence made him feel like he didn't know anything at all. "Why don't we just listen to her, you know use these" He motioned to his ears. "Instead of just spouting off orders and suggestions to her. She's not going to listen to either of us"

"Klaus listen to her, what she's talking about is insane."

"Maybe to you it is but not to her." Klaus responded.

"Brother we don't have time for this we have to do something before she takes off and we can't stop her."

They stood silently and observed her to see what her next move would be. She had stopped pacing and was not staring at the nursery. Suddenly Hayley took off towards the window. Elijah sped and intercepted her before she could open it and leave.

"GET OFF OF ME ELIJAH!" She yelled fighting against his grip.

"Hayley no! I will not let you leave this house to go after Hope. This is madness!"

She pushed herself loose from his grip and tried to speed out the door of her room only this time Klaus stopped her. He placed his arm across the door to block her exit. Hayley tried to push his arm out the way but he was too strong for her to overcome.

"Move Klaus!" She shouted, pounding him on the chest and arms. "Get out of my way!"

"NO!" he shouted at her in return.

"She needs me Klaus our daughter needs me! I feel her something is wrong! I have to get to her!" She tried to get past the threshold of her room again but she still couldn't get past Klaus's arm. She kicked and fought to get past him. "Get away from the fucking door right now Klaus or I will kill you!"

"See there is just one little problem with that love" he replied in between fighting her off. "I can't be killed."

"I fucking hate you!" She screamed as she slapped him before storming away from him. Klaus absorbed her slap without even moving.

"Are you really going to just let her fight you like this Klaus. Is that how you suggest we handle her? Just let her go off the rails until she wears herself out and hopefully quits?"

"IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS HOW I CHOOSE TO HANDLE HER!" He yelled. Now he was the one frustrated with Elijah. His anger at not being able to help Hayley and having Elijah questioning his competency spilled over. He sped to Hayley and grabbed her firmly by both arms shaking her.

"Hayley stop this right now!" He yelled.

Hayley gasped and was suddenly unable to say anything. Her fit of rage stopped and she just stared at him. Her desperate eyes made Klaus regret yelling at her. There was so much pain behind them, and helplessness and it saddened him greatly. He loosened his grip on her arms and looked back at her with pleading eyes.

"Hayley, please, I know you want to get to her but you can't, you can't sweetheart." His voice was so tender as he rubbed her shoulders to comfort her. Hayley took in his words but didn't say anything. Suddenly she curled her face up and began to sob.

"But she needs me Klaus, she needs me I can feel it, I know it."

"Of course she needs you, you're her mother Hayley, every child needs their mother, but you can't go to her, not right now." He said looking into her eyes.

Hayley lowered her head onto Klaus chest and continued sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her. "Shhhh…shhhh. It's alright Hayley, just relax."

Elijah looked on in silence. He had never seen Hayley like this before. He'd seen her cry, but he had never seen her this broken and uncontrollable and the only time he had ever seen Klaus this tender and comforting was with Rebekah. He was relieved that Hayley was finally calming down but there was a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched Klaus comfort Hayley. He felt almost territorial, like he wanted to intervene but he knew better than to risk angering Hayley again, still It didn't make it hurt any less.

Hayley's sobs got louder and louder as Klaus held her. "I have to get to her, I have to get to her she needs me." She repeated, as her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed onto the ground. Klaus went down with her. She put her head on his shoulder and continued to cry. Klaus gently stroked her hair contemplating what to do next.

"Maybe we should take her to lie down Klaus, she might find more comfort in her bed." Elijah suggested.

"No that won't do anything, she'll just cry throughout the night, she won't sleep."

"You speak as if you've done this before Niklaus."

Silence filled the space between the two brothers. Klaus didn't have to respond, Elijah could tell by just how in tune with Hayley Klaus was that he'd done this before, probably more than once. Klaus could feel his brother's eyes on his back as he continued to cradle a sobbing Hayley in his arms.

"Hayley look at me…" He said finally pulling her up from his shoulder. He extended his wrist towards her. "Here…drink." The veins in Hayley's eyes appeared and she bit down into Klaus's wrist hard, drinking up his blood as if he was one of the strangers she preyed on at night.

"Klaus what is the reasoning behind this! How is this going to help her?" Elijah questioned incredulously. Klaus making Hayley feed at that moment made no sense to him and blood sharing was not something he condoned unless the circumstances were dire. The vision of Hayley blood sharing with Klaus angered him. "And after she's done? When she starts sobbing and acting out again what then?"

"I'm going to compell her." Klaus said emotionless. He didn't want to do it again but it was the only way. He couldn't let her stay like this all night and he knew she would. He couldn't stay with her tonight, not with Elijah lurking so compelling her was the only option. Hayley had finally released his wrist and was now whimpering on his shoulder.

"Absolutely not!" Elijah shouted. "You have no right Klaus, you can't mess with her mind in that manner. First you force her to blood share now you're trying to compell her, enough of this Klaus."

"There is nothing else to do Elijah! Look at her. It's what she would want anyway."

"And who gives you the authority to determine what Hayley would want? I will not let you compell her!" Elijah was now almost right in front of Klaus. He was on the verge of tearing Hayley away from Klaus's shoulder to keep him from compelling her.

"What give me the authority? She's the mother of MY child Elijah, not yours, not anyone else's, but mine!" Klaus shouted. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to tend to Hayley, not have a pointless argument with Elijah over who had more right to make decisions for her when she's unable to do so herself. He needed to rein his emotions in before he lost it as well. He spoke up again, this time with less anger behind his voice. "A better question, my dear brother, is how do you know what she would want? This might come as a bit of a shock to you Elijah but someone other than yourself just might know a little bit about Hayley. Now step back before I make you step back."

"Klaus you can't—"

"Look at me Hayley….you will not think of Hope today, you will not cry, you will not act out. You will sleep and you will sleep peacefully. You will remember everything but you will feel nothing but peace while you sleep. Now rest."

Hayley immediately collapsed onto Klaus, causing Elijah to storm out of the room in frustration. He picked Hayley up bridal style and carried her to her bed. Gently he laid her down, tucking her hair behind her ears and whipping the residual tears from her cheeks. His heart was heavy and his mind was exhausted. Dejectedly he leaned down and placed one tender kiss on her forehead before retreating.

Hayley stayed asleep until 8 o'clock in the evening. She didn't stir, not even a little, the entire time. Elijah went in a few times to check on her, hoping she would be awake. He didn't speak to Klaus at all, still upset that he compelled Hayley and confused by their behavior last night. After checking on Hayley for the 4th time he left the compound. He just needed to get away and Klaus was relieved, he had no desire to deal with Elijah after the events earlier in the day.

When Hayley awoke she remembered everything. She remembered feeling Hope needed her, she remembered arguing with Elijah, she remembered trying to escape out of the window to get to Hope. She also remembered slapping and fighting Klaus. She remembered Klaus gently brushing her hair as she cried on his shoulder, she remembered him trying to comfort her and letting her feed off of him. She even remembered him looking into her eyes to compell her. She remembered how angry Elijah was at Klaus throughout the entire thing, but then she remembered Klaus putting his foot down determined to do whatever it took to make her feel better, even if it angered Elijah and maybe even her.

After spending a few minutes gathering her thoughts she got up and made her way to the one person she wanted to see.

"Klaus…." She said, head bowed, eyes low, and almost whispering.

"Good evening love. I assume you rested well."

"I did…."

"To what do I owe the pleasure…"

Hayley nervously played with her hands and shifted her weighted back and forth from her heels to her toes. "Klaus why did you make me remember everything? You could have compelled me to forget I was even upset to begin with, to forget any of that happened but you didn't"

"What does it matter to you love?"

"I just need to know."

Klaus shut the book that he was reading and turned to finally make eye contact with her. "Perhaps I selfishly wanted to you come gravelling at my feet with praise for helping relieve your suffering. You couldn't do that if you didn't remember suffering in the first place." He replied with a grin.

Klaus was deflecting, attempting to hide behind sinister motives in order to not betray his real motives. Hayley knew him well enough to know what he was doing.

"Right because I'm known to gravel at anyone's feet, let alone yours" She responded with a roll of her eyes. "Come on Klaus just tell me…I want to know."

"Well perhaps I didn't want to anger Elijah, he was quite against the whole thing you know."

Hayley knew that was a lie as well but she no longer had the patience for his deflection of his real reasoning.

"Okay, I'll leave you to whatever you were doing then. Good night Klaus….and thank you." She said as she turned to leave his room.

There was something about the way her voice went soft when she said thank you that moved him enough t "I did it because that was the only way I could look you in the eyes in that condition and do it." Hayley stopped in her tracks and listened. She didn't turn back around to face him.

"Hayley you were hurting, I had tried everything and failed. I understood your pain but I couldn't let you stay that way and I couldn't stay with you so it was the only way. I didn't however do it lightly. I felt it would have been wrong to rob you of your feelings and memories even if they hurt you because it's what keeps you alive…so I made you remember, remember the outbursts, the pain, the fighting, the tears…because without it every ounce of fire in you ceases to exist. I've already caused you so much harm Hayley; I couldn't inflict more damage upon you. Also who am I to rob a mother of her own grief, even if it's tearing her apart at the seams."

Hayley stood in silence biting her lip. Her eyes began to water as she processed his words. She was almost amazed by how well he seemed to know her and what she would need and want. She couldn't turn around to face him yet, but she also couldn't manage to move her feet to leave either.

"I hope my actions have not offended you Hayley, that was not my intention, I only sought to end your pain and to give you rest."

Hayley remained silent. She wanted an answer but she wasn't expecting the one she got and she definitely wasn't expecting the wave of emotions that were coming over her. She tucked her hair behind her ears and nervously tapped her thumbs before turning around to face him.

* * *

_**AN: So things are getting a little tense between Klaus,Hayley and Elijah. Also I wonder why Hayley is going to say to Klaus next, she sure is finding herself in his quarters a lot often these days haha. Next chapter should be up shortly since I want it done before I head out the country for vacation for a week. Expect that later tonight hopefully. Also review you guys! I really appreciate every review I get, writing fanfiction is still very new to me so it gives me motivation to keep writing and it also helps me when I can sense that the audience is connecting with my writing. Even if there is something you don't like about the chapter or my writing let me know! I don't get offended easily and I like feedback on what I can do better! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! **_

_**okay bye lol **_


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